****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I have to confess I had not heard of Stefano Bagliano till I came across this album while looking for works by Niccolo Fiorenza. With nothing to go on but the imprimatur of the Brilliant Classics label, this gambled purchase has repaid me with every re-listening. This is attractive, spirited music with playing, direction and identity to match, and enough yearning in the slow movements to make them as memorable as a Handel aria. I do not have the scores but the performance is florid enough to indicate that these performances are quite an encyclopaedia for ornamentation and improvisation, which is useful for early music students.The engineering is perfect in its unobtrusiveness, quietly capturing the presence of gut, bow and wood in the occasional bite or vibrato. This is not advertised as an 'audiophile disc' but it may as well be. I shall certainly use it as a reference should the need arise.So whether you're looking for fresh Baroque music to broaden your collection beyond the usual names or some sparkling, subtly mood-lifting dinner/cooking music (with the occasional 'pause to listen') this is a sound purchase. A keeper, as they say.
